Merriam-Webster currently defines ‘smart’ as ‘causing a sharp stinging’ or ‘mentally alert,’ but the Home Depot Smart Home at Duke University might force Merriam-Webster into a new edition. With projects like pressurized toilets, solarized heating and cooling and a high-tech mailbox, ‘smart’ now describes everything from doorbells to pool tables. Changing global realities will require us to redefine ourselves in order to remain sustainable, and, in the midst of this redefinition, the Duke Smart Home is an important institution, a beacon for greener and more sustainable living.

The Duke University Smart Home was originally conceived in 2003 by Mark Younger, a senior that year, and Kristina M. Johnson, U.S. Secretary of Energy nominee and former dean of Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering. The project was intended to encourage students to find “the best technology answer for a particular problem.” The building opened less than five years later, and it is now one of the premier “live-in labs” in the country. It is also the first dormitory to be awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification from the United States Green Building Council, the highest efficiency classification in sustainable building.

The Smart Home currently houses ten students from a variety of years, majors and schools across the University, proving that sustainability crosses all disciplines. Jeff Schwane, Duke Class of 2008 and an inaugural resident of the house, noted the original mission was to “[live] in an environmentally friendly manner while supporting cutting-edge technology.” As the house has only been habitable for two years, the mission has quickly expanded beyond that to encompass more dynamic entrepreneurial innovation while keeping with the green concept. As current resident Mark Gu sees it, “as a young organization, we’re constantly redefining our mission…I don’t like putting Smart Home in a box because that restrains it, but I’d say our ethos is social entrepreneurship and social innovation.”

Gu would like to see fellow Duke students use the Smart Home as a starting point in the effort to “find technology answers.” Such innovative thinking has resulted in projects including Smart Pool, a new application that utilizes a projector and camera to help one improve one’s pool skills; Smart Doorbell, which enables residents to lock or unlock the front door via cell phone or computer; and the Smart Art Competition that resulted in recyclable chandeliers for the home. Gu is part of a team working on a rainwater capture and irrigation structure for the home’s new community garden. During his tenure, inaugural resident Schwane was in charge of improving the solar hot water system in the house, making it more efficient and better able to capture energy from the sun.

Though the home originated out of the Pratt School of Engineering, the goals of its residents are much broader than showcasing technical prowess. The Smart Home is, according to Gu, a “statement for Duke and for the students that are committed to sustainability…are committed to innovating—from a grassroots standpoint—in an environmental space. That encompasses [more than] engineering; it’s public policy, it’s economics, and it’s even art… It’s everything.”

Though the experience of living in a lab is singular, Gu believes that the biggest effect the Smart Home has had in his life is not technological, but lifestyle-related.

“When you live in a house like the Smart Home, you’re constantly thinking about [being] environmentally conscious, because it demands that of you,” he said. This type of experiential learning not only makes the students more responsible residents, but also heightens their awareness of everything from energy consumption to recycling.

Via tours, conferences, and presentations, the Smart Home also makes sustainable living relevant. Visitors can now see both residents and community members living greener, and it is the hope of the residents that they will take what they see home with them. Obviously, many of the most efficient systems in place are cost-prohibitive to the average homeowner. However, Schwane and Gu believe many changes that will make the largest impact in sustainability are small. Upon moving into his new apartment following graduation, Schwane says he “immediately switch[ed] the incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescents because…it saves you money, even within three months…not to mention all the energy saving.”

Both believe that the most important changes homeowners can make, and the most important lessons they have learned from the Smart Home, are attitudinal. Simply being conscious about the way one is using energy can improve personal sustainability immensely. Their primary recommendation is to be more aware of the energy one is using at any given time. This includes re-evaluating how many items one is plugging in, composting and recycling, and, if possible, moving away from fossil fuels. So, even if one cannot afford recycled floors, geothermal power or the coveted pressurized toilet, there are many other lessons we may learn and apply from the Smart Home.

Although the Duke Smart Home is only one building in one small North Carolina city, the impact and influence it has is immeasurable. Through the efforts of its residents past and present, the Smart Home brings visibility, relevance, and reality to eco-living. However, the Duke Smart Home and the projects it spawns are just one part of a critical effort to improve quality and sustainability of life and future; a small part of the global endeavor to redefine our world.

Beth Higgins graduated from Duke University with a degree in psychology in 2007. She currently works for the Duke Alumni Association and tries to remember to turn the lights off whenever she leaves a room.